KKAJ Sports

Southeastern Oklahoma State Director of Athletics Keith Baxter has announced the hiring of Kelly Green to be the head coach of the men’s basketball program.

Green joins the Savage Storm family after 14 seasons as head coach at Arizona Western, a junior college program in Arizona Community College Athletic Conference, where he racked up a 342-107 record.

In all, he has amassed 25 years of coaching experience, 18 of those as a collegiate head coach where he has amassed a record of 391-169. Green was the longest tenured coach in AWC program history and led the team to 13 consecutive Region I Playoff appearances.

The Matadors wrapped the 2010-11 season with 23 wins and Green averaged 24 wins per season over his 14 years at the helm, making AWC the winningest college or university men’s basketball program in the state of Arizona over that time.

Green led AWC to 11 Region I final appearances and won the regional championship five times. He has been named the ACCAC Coach of the Year six times and was named the district Coach of the Year three times.

His first head coaching stint came at Frank Phillips College in Texas, where as the youngest head coach in the Lone Star State at that time. He proceeded to lead the men’s basketball team to its first winning season in a decade.

Sooners Still Looking

The Sooner basketball coaching search is getting a local feel. OU athletic director Joe Castiglione interviewed Terry Evans earlier this week. Evans declined to comment on the interview, but though the ninth-year University of Central Oklahoma coach remains a long shot for the job, he’s rising up the list as other coaches’ fall off the OU radar.

Basketball is different from football, which has few layers between major powers and lower divisions. But in hoops, between the Big 12 and the next lower division, you’ve still got various degrees of mid-major and low-major.

So a Division II basketball coach is expected to climb the ladder gradually.

But Evans has a counter.

He has turned UCO into a Division II power. In 10 years on the job, Evans has a 223-84 record, including 134-27 the past five seasons and eight NCAA tournaments.

Evans even has serious ties to the Sooners, he was a record-setting 3-point shooter on Billy Tubbs OU teams, 1989-93.

MLB Underway

Baseball is officially underway with 6 games including Albert Pujols and the Cardinals taking on the San Diego

The three-time NL MVP Pujols grounded into a career-worst three double plays while going 0 for 5 in the 5-3, 11-inning loss to the Padres last night.

Pujols shared a big hug with Tony La Russa during player introductions, and as the manager anticipated, heard nothing but cheers from a sellout red-clad crowd. Then he endured an awful start to what could be his 11th and final season in St. Louis.

The only big bat for the cards was Stillwater native Matt Holliday who homered in the eighth and had three hits for St. Louis. The Cardinals played extra innings on opening day for the first time since a 4-2, 10-inning home loss to the Mets in 1992. The last Padres’ opener that went extras was in 1996 during a 5-4 loss at Chicago.

The first Major League Baseball rankings are out, the Red Sox sit at the top followed by the World Series Champion San Fransisco Giants and the New York Yankees. The American League champ Rangers are sitting comfortably in 7th.

NCAA FOOTBALL

The head of the BCS put the Fiesta Bowl on notice Wednesday: “Follow the letter of the law” or lose its place in college football’s lucrative championship system.

BCS officials challenged the Fiesta Bowl to persuade them that extravagant and improper spending behind the firing of longtime CEO and President John Junker will never happen again.

Otherwise, the BCS said it can kick out the Fiesta Bowl altogether. There are plenty of others eager to jump in.

Arizona prosecutors are looking into possible criminal charges, focusing on accusations that top officials pressured employees into donating money to favored political candidates and then reimbursed them with bowl funds.

Fiesta Bowl officials placed the blame squarely on Junker, who made $600,000 a year as the affable face of the organization. Over the past two decades, he led the upstart bowl from just another postseason game to one of the largest and most prestigious.

NBA

Their best regular-season month in franchise history is over. The Oklahoma City Thunder look for even better things ahead in the playoffs.

Kevin Durant and James Harden scored 22 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder completed the best month in franchise history with a 116-98 victory over the fading Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.

Michael Westbrook added 16, Serge Ibaka 15 and Kendrick Perkins 13 as the Thunder won their fifth in a row, 11th in their last 12 and 50th of the season. It’s the first consecutive 50-win seasons for the franchise since 1998.

So much for Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd trying to call it an early night with the Lakers awaiting. The Los Angeles Clippers wouldn’t allow it.

Both of Dallas’ stars were needed in the fourth quarter, when the Mavericks rallied to win 106-100 Wednesday night and improve the NBA’s best road record to 27-10.

Nowitzki scored 24 points playing nearly 37 minutes, including almost all of the fourth, to beat back the scrappy Clippers. Kidd was hoping to sit out the final period, but he was needed for 2 1/2 minutes to ensure the Mavs secured their fifth straight win. The victory moved the Mavs within a half-game of the second-place Lakers in the West, with the No. 2 seed up for grabs when they play Thursday night.

The Rangers unveiled some Texas-sized improvements at the ballpark Tuesday, from a 3-pound pretzel to a new high-definition video board over Home Run Porch that is six times larger than the old one.

The 5,042-square-feet video board is part of $13 million in upgrades the Rangers have made to the 17-year-old ballpark since last season. Other improvements include a total overhaul of the stadium’s sound system, installation of 800 high-definition televisions throughout the ballpark and a 725-square-foot HD video board over center field that will provide up-to the minute scores and statistics during games.

Team president Nolan Ryan said”It’s our commitment to our fans’ experience at the ballpark. A lot of these things will enhance the game. I think fans will appreciate that along with another great season.”

The Rangers Opening Day game against the Boston Red Sox starts at 3:05 p.m. Friday.

As the NBA’s leading scorer, Kevin Durant is the kind of decoy that’s hard to ignore.

The Oklahoma City Thunder used him to perfection to beat the Golden State Warriors 115-114 in overtime Tuesday night.

Durant took his place on the right side of the lane and headed toward the free-throw line as though he was getting ready to receive a pass, just as fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook took off on a drive to the basket.

The result: a foul against Stephen Curry with 11.4 seconds left, leading to Westbrook’s game-winning free throw.

WASHINGTON (AP)—Each NFL player who contributed to a lockout fund will be able to begin collecting up to a total of about $60,000.

After setting aside union dues and royalties during recent seasons, eligible players may start drawing from the fund April 15.

NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith said on March 18 that money was available to help players while they are not receiving paychecks during the lockout, which owners imposed after the collective bargaining agreement expired. Smith would not provide details.

The NFLPA sent players an email—a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press—to let them know its board of player directors “approved the payout from the Lockout Fund to begin on April 15, in six installments or until the lockout ends.”

Players were instructed to fill out a direct deposit enrollment form attached to the email.

NFL.com first reported Tuesday about the NFLPA email.

Negotiations for a new CBA broke off March 11. The union announced that day it was dissolving itself and no longer represented the players. That allowed players to file a class-action antitrust lawsuit in federal court. Hours later, at midnight, the owners locked out the players, creating the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987.

A hearing on players’ request for an injunction to lift the lockout is scheduled for April 6 in St. Paul, Minn.

The main sticking point throughout contract talks was how to divide the NFL’s more than $9 billion in annual revenues.

New SOSU Basketball Coach
Southeastern Oklahoma State Director of Athletics Keith Baxter has announced the hiring of Kelly Green to be the head coach of the men’s basketball program.
Green joins the Savage Storm family after 14 seasons as...

MLB
The first Major League Baseball rankings are out, the Red Sox sit at the top followed by the World Series Champion San Fransisco Giants and the New York Yankees. The American League champ Rangers are sitting comfortably in 7th.
NCAA...

The Rangers unveiled some Texas-sized improvements at the ballpark Tuesday, from a 3-pound pretzel to a new high-definition video board over Home Run Porch that is six times larger than the old one.
The 5,042-square-feet video board is part of $13...